Safety net: Government nod must to prosecute any cop in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Offering a protective cover to the entire police force, the State government has made it mandatory to obtain prior sanction before a court could prosecute personnel in every rank.

Until now, this protection under the CrPC 1973 and its re-enactment as Section 218(3) of the BNSS was automatically available only to public servants appointed by the State or central government. This provision allows governments to extend legal safeguards – previously reserved for the Armed Forces and certain specified forces – to personnel engaged in maintaining public order.

This, however, left out more than 95 per cent of the police personnel, particularly those in subordinate ranks. Officers from the Tamil Nadu Police Subordinate Service and the Tamil Nadu Special Police Subordinate Service could potentially be prosecuted for alleged offences related to their official duties without obtaining prior government sanction.

The government order issued on Wednesday removes this ‘disparity’ and formally extends the protection to officials of all ranks. The immediate legal effect is clear: henceforth, no court will be able to take cognisance of any offence alleged to have been committed by any police personnel while “acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duties” without the previous sanction of the State government.

The government argued that this established a uniform standard of legal procedure, placing constables and SIs on the same procedural footing as senior officers.